Elder law attorneys are specially trained to address the legal needs of seniors and their families. We can help you protect your house and other assets in the event of long term illness, while minimizing tax consequences. We can guide seniors and their families through the legal, financial and health care decision-making process that is required to access the continuum of long term care, from home care or independent living to assisted living to skilled nursing facilities. We also have contacts in the community to help coordinate care or find quality and appropriate senior communities or facilities.
- Some of our common legal solutions include:
- Medicaid planning and applications
- Medicaid asset protection trusts
- Spousal annuity planning to maintain the community spouse in the best financial position
- Family gift and annuity planning when the goal is to protect an inheritance for kids and grandkids
- Guardianships and Conservatorships
- Wills and trusts
- Financial and Medical Powers of Attorney
- Preventing or Stopping Financial Exploitation of Seniors
- Reviewing Contracts for senior communities or facilities
- Veterans benefit assistance for home care and assisted living
We work with seniors and their families at all stages of the planning process. Some families prefer to plan well in advance and others prefer to wait to deal with issues as they arise. When long term care planning includes Medicaid, it favors acting in advance in light of the five year look back on gifting. Nevertheless, even crisis situations will almost always present opportunities for savings and asset protection for Medicaid. We also work regularly with health care providers, financial planners and other experts for resolution of issues for seniors. These services may include planning for life choices that come with aging, such as major changes in health, counseling on changes in living arrangements, and end of life decision making or planning. When necessary, I provide client with home visits, hospital visits or nursing home visits. Unlike some other attorneys, I can also see things through in court when there is a need for a guardianship or conservatorship, to stop financial exploitation, or to probate an estate when a client has died. Many of my clients and their families appreciate knowing they can work with me through all stages of the aging process.
We represent seniors, adult children or fiduciaries in guardianship and conservatorship proceedings before the Colorado court. A conservatorship is a proceeding to appoint someone to make financial decisions for a person who can no longer manage their property or finances. A guardianship is a proceeding to appoint a fiduciary to make personal decisions, such as for healthcare or where to reside, when a person has become incapacitated and can no longer make such decisions for themselves. A guardianship or conservatorship can be sought on an emergency or a permanent basis, depending upon the circumstances. Such proceedings may be either contested or uncontested, depending upon the position taken by the person who is the subject of the proceeding, as well as various family members or interested professionals.
